Psalm 30:4-5 "Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime."
Something has been in my heart these past weeks regarding sin, unrighteousness, the past, repentance, and joy. You may say, "Randy, that's a lot to think about!" It is a lot to think about! However, God has been motivating me with these words and thoughts that I've been meditating on.
See, "sin" is an awful ugly thing that separates us from the Almighty God. It builds a wall that can get so thick that it seems impossible to break down. (Isaiah 59:2) It is caused by our "unrighteous" attitude we so gravitate toward." (Ephesians 2:3). The Spirit that lives in us hungers and desires for righteousness, but it starves when we follow our sinful nature.
People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.
The beautiful thing however, is that there is redemption in Jesus. He came to show truth within us. The other word is "past". Whether you like it or not, that "old man" still lives amongst the "new man". There is a continuing war that is to be fought. I automatically think of those yard signs that people started putting in their yard, "War Is Not The Answer." I recall that our freedom was won by winning a war. It's just the truth. The same goes for our souls. If we stick that sign in our heart we are in great danger, for the enemy lies to us to tell us "war is not the answer!" We will find ourselves in the midst of muck and mire not finding our way out of the nature God so warned us about.
I told Jesus the other day that I feel so bad when I have to repent in front of Him. He immediately spoke, "I find great "joy" in your "repentance." Why Jesus? "Because my resurrection! The power it has. See, if I was to stay dead then repentance wouldn't feel good...but because the power my resurrection has, it changes everything!" Indeed it has!
"...that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death..." (Philippians 3:10 ESV)
We carry sin, we carry unrighteousness, we definitely carry our past, but yet in our repentance there is great joy!
"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness... (Isaiah 30:11).
We all battle with ourselves and there is nothing wrong with that. It's actually healthy to make war on the old man within us. Listen to this link after you read:
http://j.mp/haGaOl
In the midst of the battle you will find that that there is much repentance in play. I have you know that every time repentance happens the battle gets easier. However, the fight enlarges. Some denominations and religions claim that when you're born-again, that there is no need in repenting any longer. I will say, that has to be a sad life. Because even as a Christ-follower; my flesh wars within. My pride, my lust, my selfish ambitions, my attitude. As I come in frontline with my sin as Jesus and the Holy Scriptures as the fighter, victory WILL be won!
1 John 3:8
Galatians 5:17
Psalm 18:37-40
randy
my brain on a screen, my heart on Jesus
joy in repenting
on call
good morning. right now the coffee maker is dripping behind me and it feels like it may be a pretty good saturday. i get to drink coffee for one thing, i get to see a personal trainer around 9:00 a.m., i may take leslie up to the Fourmile Fire for her to see the damage it's done (she hasn't seen it yet), then i have college football on all day as well. seems like it may turn out to be a great unproductive day to me! :)
however, i'm on call...
yes, i said it. i'm "on call."
do i walk on eggshells fearing when my phone will ring, calling me to duty? do i plan things with an attitude that it may not happen? do i not do anything at all? what's your mentality if you are ever 'on call' and how do you handle it?
don't shoot the messenger
when you watch the news and the anchorperson tells you the news for the day, do you get upset with them if you don't like the news they are reporting? most of the time when i watch the news, i hate what they are saying. a lot of what they report is not good but it's not the reporter or the anchorperson who i blame for the news - they are just reporting what they know so i can't be mad at them for telling me the truth, whether i like it or not. you know the saying "don't shoot the messenger"? i guess that would apply to this situation!
speaking of messengers, I was reading in John 13 today and the words of Jesus rang in my heart. He said in verse 16..."I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message." He goes on in verse 20 to say "I tell you the truth, anyone who welcomes my messenger is welcoming me, and anyone who welcomes me is welcoming the Father who sent me." Jesus is the One who sends the message - christians are just the messengers.
unfortunately, often times in the world, people are angry with the messengers that Jesus sends. no one wants to hear they are a sinner. no one wants to hear about hell. no one wants to hear about judgment or wrath. so, instead of listening to the messengers who speak from God's Word, they "shoot the messengers". but does that change the message? no, it doesn't. the message may not be the news that people want to hear, but it's the truth according to the bible and it's important that we all face this at some point in our lives. and this "bad news" can be delivered in love from a person who has been there - one who remembers what it's like when the news first came to them.
the problem is, often times we get it backwards. have you noticed that on the newscast they report all the bad news first...and then they follow it up with some light-hearted, good news stories as they close out? i think that is strategic. they close out on a good note, leaving you feeling a little less violated. i believe that is an effective way to give the message of Christ to a lost world.
you see, there is some very bad news...like the fact that we are all sinners and fall short of God's glory (Romans 3:23) and that there is a God who will judge us all (2 Peter 3:7), there is no one who is righteous enough to get to heaven - not even the nicest person we know (Romans 3:10), our sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2) and that we have an enemy, the Devil (1 Peter 5:8).
but there is also some very, very good news! God sent Jesus to die for us and become the sacrifice for our sins and when we believe in Him through faith, He restores that relationship with God (Romans 3:9-31), Jesus Christ is the way to heaven (John 14:6), God will forgive us of our sins if we confess them and repent (1 John 1:9), God is patient with us and doesn't want any of us to perish (Psalm 145:8; 2 Peter 3:9; Ezekiel 18:32) and God loves us deeply (John 3:16).
i've often thought about how if someone were to come to my door and say "i found the cure for your illness!" i'd think they were crazy because i am not ill! but if i were diagnosed with something terminal and then someone approached me with a cure, i would definitely want to hear about it. if we don't let people know there is a diagnosis of sin and separation from God, they will not understand when we try to offer only the "good news" without the bad. i think that's what's been going on in the world - we are so afraid to offend, so afraid to share the truth of God's word because people don't receive it well. we want them to only hear the good news - but without knowing the bad news, the good news won't make any sense!
our worship
Is worship only giving what you offer to God during the course of your day, your week, in prayer and services? Or does it include what you receive? Why do so many leave churches claiming they are not being fed or they are getting nothing out of it as if reception is fundamental to worship? If it does include reception, whose responsibility is it to supply? Is it the minister, the preacher, the choir, the laity, something or someone outside of yourself... or is it God?
I just had a thought that worship is sort of like the tithe, where we covenant to give back to God out of the abundance he has given us. God gives, we receive, we give back to honor the covenant. If this is at all accurate, anyone who says they cannot worship is really saying they have received nothing from God out of which to give back to him.
That begs a question, which comes out of my past encounters with the prosperity movement. Where does seed faith fit in all of this? You know? The idea of giving to God so that we "prime" the pump of his giving? Now that in my mind is truly pernicious, because it argues that we have something to give to God that has not come from him in the first place. It turns the whole covenantal process on its head. It is pride and arrogance of the worse sort.
I wonder what would happen to our worship if we FULLY understood that everything we give to God first came from him and by giving back, we properly honor what he has first given us. That by withholding our worship in any way we dishonor him and break the covenant of giving back the covenanted portion of what we have received.
Just a thought. Love ya!
a tight fit
I've been really talking to God about my life lately as a 27 year old and as the pastor of @orchardchurch/church at the orchard.
See, I was born again when I was 13 years old.
Was called to preach when I was 15.
Was told to work my way to Colorado at 17.
Been married and divorced, and married again to the most lovable woman God's ever created!
If we're not careful we can miss life so blindly as we let it slip between the cracks of work, church, and leisure. Trusting God with my life would be the smart thing to do, but not always the easiest. And that's where I come in to speak to you about the critical moments in life!
The average person wakes up in the morning, puts coffee on, does what he/she needs to in the bathroom, gets dressed, kisses the spouse goodbye, cranks their radio up to whatever they listen to, drive between 20-40 minutes to work, make money, come home, eat, shower, watch The O'Reilly Factor or Anderson Cooper (depending what party you're for), then rinse and repeat. Sheew! That's a lot!
My question is; where does God fit into that equation? It's a tight fit isn't it? Most of us, if we have somewhat a relationship with our Heavenly Father should feel guilt if we lack a relationship with Him (asking that question to ourselves). If you don't feel guilt, it's probably because you're either an angel or it may be a good thing that you step away from the computer screen, go to a quiet place somewhere in your home and get alone with God. (If you are the angel reading this...I am completely honored you'd take the time). Talk to Him. He wants to listen! Don't forget that God likes to speak too, so don't do ALL the talking.
"I am a God that is close at hand ... and not a God far off ... Do I not fill heaven and earth?" (Jeremiah 23:23-24).
Revelation 3:20 says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."
"And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the door of the tabernacle: and all the people rose and worshipped, every man in his tent-door. And the Lord spoke to Moses, FACE TO FACE, AS A MAN SPEAKS TO HIS FRIEND" (Exodus 33:9-11).
God so wants a relationship with you! You are His son/daughter. Don't you think we need to start accepting that? I've said this plenty of times to friends, but God is not an angry grandfather nor is He a bad boyfriend. He is a loving dad! That may be difficult for you if you haven't had the best father figure in your life. I assure you that one day the feeling that God is a good Father will come to you. His wrath is just as powerful as His love. Will you begin to believe that you are worthy of salvation through Christ? Sure, we are filthy creatures and He didn't have to come down and save a sinner like you and I. Begin to really understand that God loved you so very much that He sent His ONLY SON! Believe that in Jesus' name.
Take in consideration that God is nothing like anyone. He is Himself and there is none like Him! I pray this speaks to you and you begin to realize that life shouldn't be something that we fly through to miss all the bad moments. It needs to be something we come to God on and lay it all down at His feet.
Remember this one thing: your flesh will always remind you that you need a Saviour!
©randyburris.viviti.com
